I often say, in almost every interview I give and with almost every patient I work with — anything is better than nothing.
I am happy about you making one small change. No need to get overwhelmed or discouraged when improving your health. One minute of grounding. One glass of water. One short walk after dinner. One high quality multivitamin. Doing these things every single day is so much more joyful and inspiring then starting and stopping another diet, starting and stopping another workout plan, starting and stopping another trendy supplement.
In health, literally anything is better than nothing.
It’s not about biohacking every single aspect of your life so perfectly that you are unable to actually enjoy your life. Literally anything is better than nothing, and the worst thing you can do is overwhelm yourself with so many rigid health rules that you don’t do any of them at all.
If you drink one sip of water, it’s better than not hydrating at all.
If you stand up during every commercial break, it’s better than sitting through them all.
If you get grounded to the earth for one minute, it’s better than never grounding at all.
How do we know that even small changes add up?
Beyond clinical experience and common sense, we now have a fabulous new medical study that confirms it.
Most studies that look at longevity look at an isolated variable, like sleep quality, or exercise intensity, or diet. But a study just published in March 2026 in the European Journal Of Preventive Cardiology found that making minimal changes in all three categories yielded significantly better results than focusing on one area alone.
This is a huge relief to those of us who can’t completely optimize our sleep — maybe those who do shift work or have a sleep disorder. Or to those of us who will never become a gym rat (and don’t even want to!) or maybe have mobility issues that limit movement intensity. The bottom line is a small combined change wins out over perfection in any singular category.
How small of a change? Read on to find out the bare minimum to add one year to your life, below.
First, know this: this was a major medical study. This study looked at over 53,000 participants, with a median age of 63 years old and followed them for over 8 years. This is much larger and over a longer period of time than most medical studies, so there is a very high degree of confidence in these results.
Here is what researchers found actually optimized health: small changes in multiple areas made more of a difference in lifespan than a huge effort in any singular health category.
Here was the participants baseline:
- an average of 5.5 hours of sleep a night
- a total of 7 minutes of moderate daily activity
- and a diet quality score of 36 out of 100
What combination made the biggest difference to lifespan?
- Getting between 8 – 9.4 hours of sleep a night
- 42 minutes or more of daily moderate activity
- Improving diet quality score to an average of 42
But what is bare minimum?
What is the least effort you could do that would literally add one year or more to your life? It’s so simple… just:
- Getting 10 more minutes of sleep
- Adding in 5 more minutes of moderate activity
- And eating an additional 1/4 cup of a vegetable
This is an image shared in the article abstract, which you can read for yourself right here.
Look at the conclusions at the bottom: measurable health improvement with just a few minutes more of sleep, a quarter cup of vegetables, and 5 more minutes of physical activity.
How easy is that. Sleep 10 more minutes, be active 5 more minutes, and eat 1/4 cup of a veggie (that’s literally just a medium carrot) to add an entire year to your life.
You can do this.
I’m here to help.
Here are some ideas so you can add these small tweaks to your daily routines and add years to your life.
Add One More Year To Your Life By Just:
1. Sleeping 10 more minutes
Don’t make it overwhelming and overcomplicated, adding 10 minutes of sleep can be as simple as putting your blue light blocking glasses on a little earlier, or lighting a candle instead of using artificial lighting in your bedroom as you are getting ready for bed, or taking a hot bath with epsom salts to relax your body a few minute earlier than you usually do, any one of those things can help you fall asleep just ten minutes earlier.
For more great ideas on sleeping a few minutes longer, read this free article I wrote for you here:
Remind yourself, as you go to bed tonight, to take the pressure off. It’s not about forcing or even medicating yourself to just to hit a magic goal of 9 hours of sleep. If you can just wind down a few minutes earlier to add 10 minutes of sleep to your night (no matter how short it usually is, just ten more minutes changes everything) to make a difference in your lifespan.
2. Moving for 5 more minutes
Literally doing any extra movement, even just a few minutes, can lengthen your lifespan. It could be as easy as walking up a flight of stairs. Or parking further away in the parking lot so that you walk 5 extra minutes. Or putting one or two of your favorite songs on and dancing to them, instead of just listening. Or doing a few jumping jacks during commercial break which watching your favorite TV show. Or, take your dog on a little tiny after dinner walk.
That’s it! Things as simple as that can easily add 5 more minutes of movement into your day. For more ideas on easy ways to get more movement into your day, read this free article I wrote for you:
3. And eating a 1/4 cup of any vegetable
This might be the easiest one of them all. Literally this is just eating a medium sized carrot. Or dicing up an avocado and adding it to your dinner plate. Or throwing a small handful of greens into your breakfast smoothie. Or sprinkling shredded carrots on top of the salad you normally eat. Or slicing up a tomato and adding it to your sandwich. Or adding chopped up zucchini to the muffins or brownies you are making. Or having a small 1/4 cup of veggie soup as an appetizer or for lunch. Easy Peasy.
If you want more healthy quick alternatives to improve your diet a little (remember — we are not going for ruining your enjoyment of food! We are not going for strict calorie counting or a highly restrictive diet! We are going for just adding a half of a bell pepper or a few baby carrots to your meal today to prolong your lifespan!) you might enjoy this free article I wrote for you:
Ditch your “all-or-nothing” mindframe — this is overwhelming, intense, and keeps us from making any change at all — and instead embrace that all the small micro-choices you make each day.
From taking a drink of water, to eating that handful of baby carrots, to going to bed a few minutes early, to touching a leaf on a tree for must a minute of grounding while you wait to cross the street, to taking your dog on a walk for an extra block or two — those all make meaningful health improvements that are literally adding years to your life!
I’m proud of you.
xoxox, Laura Koniver MD
